9 Months

At nine months Sam is more active than ever. Gone are the days of happily playing in one spot while mommy gets some things done. If I step out of the room, he follows me. If I sit him on the floor, he pulls up on the nearest furniture. If we're playing on the bed, he tries to dive off the side. If its a cord, he wants to pull it. If its something he probably shouldn't have, he'll do anything in his power to get it into his mouth. He is ALL over the place.

So yes, our little Squirmy has mastered the art of crawling on his hands and knees and never army/belly crawls anymore. He's even figured out how to do it while bringing a toy with him in one hand. He's really fast at cruising around furniture. And he's now figured out how to sit himself back down, so he is quite adept at combining the cruising and crawling to make it across the room. He likes to walk while holding our hands, but gets a huge smile when he walks using his push toys - I think he feels independent that way. But...no waving or clapping yet. We're practicing though!

He also now likes to listen to short stories, look at the pictures and turn the pages. Sometimes we read out of order depending on which page he decides to turn for us. His favorite books have touch and feel pages.But...no waving or clapping yet. We're practicing though!

We went in for Sam's 9-month Well Visit on Friday and it turns out we weren't so well after all. I knew he had a cold, but I didn't know that he had a ear infection. That explains the pained cries and uber-crankiness of Thursday and Friday. After just 2 days of antibiotics he was already feeling better. Too bad we have to finish out the 10 day prescription. Giving medicine to a baby is the pits!

We also found out just how little our baby boy really is. Sam weighed in at 15 pounds 14 ounces. That's below the growth curve, as predicted, so I can't give you a percentile. I was prepared for it to be low, but I wasn't prepared for it to be below 16 pounds. Part of me thinks that is a little off - he hadn't been eating well all week due to his cold. I don't know, maybe that's wishful thinking. He is perfectly average in length though - 28 inches is 50%.

So I guess that brings us to our likes and dislikes for the month:

Likes:
Moving - constantly
Lovies - he carries them everywhere
Baths

Dislikes:
Ear Infections
Daddy leaving for work in the morning